7 Revenue Levers for Rollups

More and more crypto projects – exchanges, games, consumer apps, and more – are building their own dedicated rollups. Why? More revenue opportunities is one reason. If you build on a shared blockchain, you only have one direct revenue source: App fees. If you own the chain, you have many more. We’ll break down seven here.

1. Sequencer revenue

The most obvious rollup-specific revenue source is sequencer revenue. If you run an app on a shared blockchain, think of sequencer revenue as the gas fees you and your users currently pay on every transaction – except with your own rollup, those gas fees go to you. Even better, as rollup owner you get to set the gas fees yourself and determine how much sequencer revenue you make on every transaction. 

Lifetime sequencer revenue for a few rollups on Conduit:

Zora Network: $3.5M

Mode Network: $2.1M

Aevo: $1.3M

And that’s only lever number one.

2. MEV capture

Rollups can also add to their sequencer revenue by internalizing MEV. On shared blockchains, MEV goes to sophisticated searchers and the block builders they work with to order transactions profitably – often at the average user’s expense. But rollup owners can capture MEV for the chain in more user-friendly ways with a growing set of tools implemented at the sequencer level.

One example: Arbitrum Timeboost. Timeboost introduces an "express lane" for transactions – MEV searchers can bid for the right to use the express lane and have their transactions processed 200 milliseconds ahead of others for 60 seconds, until a new auction takes place. In other words, MEV searchers pay Arbitrum for 60 seconds’ worth of MEV opportunity. Timeboost auction fees go to the Arbitrum sequencer, and are then distributed to the Arbitrum DAO and Developer Guild.

Since launching in April, Timeboost has made over $1M from auction fees (over $10M annualized). Any Arbitrum Orbit chain can implement Timeboost with custom settings for express lane head start, time between auctions, token used for bidding, and more.

Flashbots Rollup-Boost is another tool chains can use to internalize MEV. Rollup-Boost is a TEE that rollups can implement at virtually any part of the tech stack to perform tasks trustlessly. If used as a block builder, rollups can use Rollup-Boost TEEs to set transparent rules for priority transaction ordering, so that MEV searchers pay the sequencer to prioritize their transactions. 

MEV control is a big competitive advantage for rollups that isn’t available on shared blockchains – both for the extra revenue and the ability to protect users from harmful forms of MEV.

3. Stablecoin yield sharing

How do stablecoin issuers make money? For the most part, they invest the dollars backing the stablecoin in ultra-stable instruments like U.S. Treasury bills and collect the yield. However, issuers like Agora are pioneering new models in which stablecoin yield is shared with the blockchains and apps that drive stablecoin adoption. That can include your rollup.

The opportunity here is enormous. Base, for example, has approximately $4.1B in stablecoin TVL. At 4% U.S. Treasury returns, those stablecoins would generate over $160M in annual yield – even if the stablecoin issuer shared just half of that, Base would more than double their revenue for the last 12 months (a cool $78.8M). 

Math like that is why Katana just launched with AUSD as its canonical stablecoin. And unlike many forms of revenue in the crypto world, this one is particularly…stable.

4. Yield on bridged assets

The funds locked in a rollup’s bridge contract represent another possible revenue lever. Traditionally, bridges simply hold on to funds deposited by users, and issue equivalent assets on the L2. But what if those user-deposited funds could generate yield? That’s what new, innovative rollups like Katana and their partners at the Agglayer are asking. Rather than let bridge deposits sit idle, they’re using a new tool called VaultBridge to invest those funds in yield-generating vaults, powered by Morpho. All proceeds go to Katana, who reinvests them back into the network. 

Of course, this strategy requires careful planning and caution. VaultBridge partners with Gauntlet and Steakhouse Financial—two of the most respected risk management firms in DeFi—to ensure that yield strategies are implemented with institutional-grade diligence. 

Bridge yield revenue is directly tied to TVL, so revenue increases linearly with overall user growth, making it a highly scalable revenue source. Plus, user experience on the rollup remains unchanged. Users continue receiving 1:1 bridged assets on their deposits, and the yield generation happens quietly in the background.

5. App layer monetization for appchains

Appchain rollups can also increase revenue by monetizing app activity separate from baseline gas fees. This can come from charging transaction fees, e.g. trading fees for DEX chains, or from selling things that enhance the app, e.g. in-game item NFTs for gaming chains. 

For example, the fully onchain game Pirate Nation (from studio Proof of Play) has a marketplace for player upgrades called gems, which exist onchain as NFTs and can be purchased using the in-game $PIRATE currency. In that way, the gems are an extra source of revenue that fits naturally into gameplay, as well as a demand sink to support $PIRATE tokenomics.

Derive is a derivatives DEX running on its own Conduit-powered rollup, and shows how DEX appchains can monetize with trading fees in addition to sequencer revenue from gas. Derive charges varying rates on notional trading volume to traders based on whether they are makers or takers on the position and the type of instrument they’re trading. 

Overall, Derive has made roughly $120K on trading fees in the last 30 days.

Though their use cases are quite different, Derive and Pirate Nation both show how apps can monetize user activity on their own rollups.

6. First-party apps for ecosystem chains

Ecosystem rollups are meant to act as hubs for many related apps, as opposed to appchains built to host a single app. However, ecosystem rollups can still benefit from app layer monetization by building first-party apps on their own chain. 

In addition to the revenue opportunity, first-party apps can act as a proof-of-concept of the rollup’s key differentiators, and attract other developers to build third-party apps on the chain. First-party apps also help ecosystem rollups solve the “cold start problem” and ensure there are powerful experiences for users on the chain from day one. 

7. App revenue sharing deals

What if you’re running an ecosystem chain and don’t have the bandwidth or expertise to build all the first-party apps you want? 

One solution for established rollups or rollups launching with high anticipation and market awareness: Negotiate revenue sharing agreements with applications, creating win-win partnerships that go beyond simple transaction fees. These arrangements typically involve applications sharing a portion of their revenue in exchange for preferential treatment, enhanced infrastructure, and marketing support.

The leverage required for meaningful deals comes from proven user bases and strong ecosystem momentum. Successful arrangements often involve more than money—priority support, technical integration, and strategic collaboration that benefits both parties.

The key is building a rollup that offers unique value propositions applications can't find elsewhere, creating negotiating power for partnerships that can generate substantial recurring revenue.

Rollups = Revenue 

The rollup revenue revolution is underway. The only question is whether you'll be building on someone else's infrastructure or capturing the value for your own project.

While projects on bigger L1s benefit from network effects and easier onboarding, at a certain level of scale and user loyalty, they will always be able to make more money on a dedicated rollup – not to mention customize the rollup for their exact use case. Instead of paying rent to someone else’s network, they get to capture multiple revenue streams that compound over time. As infrastructure matures and performance improves, we expect revenue opportunities for rollups to multiply well beyond these seven (in fact, there are probably some we didn’t include). 

If your project is ready to ditch shared infra and tap into these revenue levers with a dedicated rollup, Conduit is here to help.